Moving on we made our way to the Foxfield Railway, a preserved standard-gauge line south-east of Stoke that was originally built in the 19th century to serve a local colliery. The Foxfield Light Railway Society was formed in 1965 and offers rides on steam and diesel trains - although today it also had a vintage vehicle rally. The car park was full of a huge variety of vehicles - even before we got to the station! The drizzle had left off by now so we were happy to wander around.
We had just missed a train leaving the station as we arrived so after checking out the cars we had a wander around the station. As well as a buffet serving hot and cold food there is also a museum building displaying a variety of artefacts relating to the railway and a shop. We soon heard the train returning and, of course, popped out to see it. A lovely little railway.
The rain - rather than drizzle - arrived as we left, so our timing was just right although it was only just a shower and we even ended the day with a brief glimpse of the sun!
Monday began dry and we headed off to visit a pottery - after all we are in the area of the country well known for, and containing, many potteries. Emma Bridgwater is a modern potter who was looking for a present for her mum in 1984 but couldn't find what she wanted, so made her own - and the rest as they say is history. The factory was originally opened in 1883 and is still producing pots today. The factory offers tours, which we eagerly signed up for and we saw the whole process from start to finish. The skills and craftmanship on display was amazing.
To complete our day in the potteries we also went to visit the Wedgwood Museum. A beautiful new building housing thousands of exhibits produced over the years by Josiah Wedgwood and his descendants.
On Tuesday we decided that as we were so close we would go to the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas, only a short distance south-east of Stafford. The UK's national centre of remembrance is a woodland landscape featuring 30,000 trees and a vast collection of memorials. Many of the trees at this time of year are looking spectacular in their autumnal colours. The site covers 150 acres so we took advantage of the Land Train, which in 50 minutes, gave us an overview of the site. The on-board commentary also gave us an introduction to the site and its memorials.
The site has memorials to military associations, charitable organisations, emergency services, fraternity groups and individuals and more memorial are added every year. The memorials themselves often look simple but there is huge symbolism behind the design of many of them.
The Armed Forces Memorial in the centre of the site was the one we all recognised from TV, but TV does it no justice. A stunning memorial that is very thought provoking and sombre but very impressive. On top of a mound it honours members of the armed services who were killed on duty. It is a 43metre diameter stone structure with 2 curved walls and 2 straight walls containing the names of the honoured. The centrepiece of the memorial are its two large bronze sculptures. On one an injured soldier is carried on a stretcher by his comrades with family members on either side.
The second is a body being prepared for burial by female and ghurka soldiers. A figure by double doors points to a world beyond, where the soldier will rest in eternity and another figure carves his name on the memorial.
The alignment and axis of the memorial mean that at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month the sun's rays stream through the door of the sculpture, lighting the laurel wreath in the centre of the memorial. I have included 2 photos here from their website - their pictures give much better idea of the whole place than ours do! Hope they don't mind.
The volunteers we met were all extremely knowledgeable about the whole site and were obviously very proud to be a volunteer there. A very sobering visit but not a miserable place at all, the whole atmosphere is very positive and we felt privileged to have visited such a place. Travelling home the next day visiting the National Memorial Arboretum was a real talking point, as a highlight of our short trip to Stafford.
No comments:
Post a Comment